A COXTKIBUTIOX TO THE :M0EPH0L0GY OF THE M.UI- 

 MOTH, ELEPHAS PRIMIGEXIUS BLUMEXBACH: WITH 

 AX EXPLAXATIOX OF MY ATTEMPT AT A RESTORA- 

 TIOX.» 



By E. Pfizenmayek. 



Our kiiowledofe of the fossil pachyderms has received important 

 accessions in every respect through the mammoth carcass brought to 

 light in the Siberian "taiga," on the Beresovka River, and discov- 

 ered by Lamuts. Avhich was recovered in a more nearly perfect condi- 

 tion than any hitherto obtained. The find on the Beresovka has not 

 only made our knowledge of the skeleton of Elephas prlmigenius 

 comi3lete for the first time, but the left tusk, -which was preserved, has 

 solved in a satisfactory manner the question as to the position of this 

 modified incisor t-ooth in the skull, and especially as to its curvature 

 and the direction of the tip, since it was possible to determine posi- 

 tively its original position in the alveolus. Our morphological knowl- 

 edge of the mammoth also received important additions through the 

 Beresovka discovery, in spite of the fact that the state of preserva- 

 tion of the soft parts Avas less satisfactory than that of the skeleton. 



In the light of our present knowledge of the mammoth, and espe- 

 cially of its exterior, the various existing attempts at a restoration 

 need important corrections. Apart from the many fanciful sketches 

 intended to portray the exterior of the animal, all the more care- 

 fully made restorations show the faults of the skeleton, hitherto 

 regarded as typical, on which they are based, especially the powerful 

 semicircular and upward-curved tusks, the long tail, etc. 



As these false conceptions of the exterior of the mammoth, both 

 written and in the form of pictures, are contained in all zoological 

 and paleontological text-books, and even in scientific monographs, it 



a Translation, by permission, of Beitrag zur Morphologie von Elephas prinii- 

 genius, Blumeub. unci Erklaruug meines Recoustructionsversuclies (Separat- 

 Abdruck aus den " Verhaudluugeu der Russisoh-Kaiserlicbeu Miueralogiseheu 

 Gesellscbaff ■ zu St. Petersburg. Bd. XLIII. Lief. 2. 1900). 



For a further account of the Beresovka Mammoth, see the Smithsonian Report 

 for 1903, pp. 611-625, pis. I-II. 



SM 1906 21 321 



